The very first Hunger Games
by Pinkwataah1
Summary: What were the very first hunger games like? Aah you will have to read to find out :
1. District 1 Boy

"Sweetie, you have been in there for over an hour and a half! Please eat something before the reaping!" Sheen Lux's mother, with whom he was very close, was calling to him from downstairs in the kitchen. Sheen was just putting the finishing touches on his hair, adding one more dollop of hair gel to spike it perfectly. If it were anyone other than his mom, he would yell at them right now, asking them why they don't understand the importance of presentable, perfectly styled hair? He looked at himself one more time in the mirror, throwing his hands out in front of him to look like guns. Some might call him conceited and too obsessed with his hair, but those are the same people who haven't had a haircut since they were six. "SHEEN!" He heard his mother call. He abruptly dropped the comb he was about to work through his hair.

"Sorry, Mommy!" he yelled, picking the comb up off of the floor to rinse it and stuff it in his black dress pants. He ran downstairs and smiled at the simple plate which held mixed fruit, whole-wheat toast, at least ten strips of bacon and 10 links of sausage, accompanied with a full glass of orange juice. He sat across from his mother and started stuffing down his meal devilishly.

"Take human sized bites, will ya?" his father asked, staring at him as if he had three heads.

"Rob, let him eat. This might be his last good meal before -" her voice cracked and tears started falling from her eyes. It had just hit her. Her baby boy might die this year. This might be the last time she will ever see him alive. "Oh my gosh, my baby!" She had to move her old, deep red dinner cloth to her eyes to catch her tears.

"Susan, calm down. He's been trained with the best." Rob said, smiling and looking down at himself, proud of his ability to train a little boy into a skilled hunter. Okay, maybe Sheen was a bit of a momma's boy who cared a little bit too much about his hair, but no one could doubt his survival skills.

Sheen pointed a fork to his father and nodded in agreement, downing a large mouthful of meat. "Hey are you gonna finish that?" he asked, pointing his fork at his mothers two strips of bacon, mouth still full. His mother looked down at her plate and shook her head, pushing her meal forward. He picked up one strip of bacon and gladly opened his mouth to eat it, but suddenly screamed out and threw it back on his mothers plate. He ran over to hug his mother, seemingly fearing for his life.

"What's wrong, baby?" His mother asked, rubbing Sheen's back and inspecting the strip of bacon. "Oh... sweetie, it's just a tiny bit of scrambled egg. It's nothing to be scared of. I promise."

"Birds lay eggs!" He said, staring at her in disbelief. Wasn't it obvious?

"Yes, they do, but... Sheen, it was eleven years ago."

"I don't care if it was 100 years ago, MOM!" Sheen yelled sternly, in a tone he never thought he could use with his mom.

"They might have birds in the arena." Susan tried to calm him down, but she was also being cautious and real, explaining all the possibilities the Capitol could throw at him, since nobody knew exactly to expect. All they knew is that 23 tributes were going to die. Nobody knew how or when, but they knew 23 teenagers were going to die.

"NO! They WON'T HAVE BIRDS IN THE ARENA!" He yelled, pushing a chair down to the ground. "They WON'T. The Capitol can't be THAT mean!"

"Son! Calm down! It was a bird! You NEED to let it go! And DON'T take it out on your mother, he didn't do ANYTHING wrong!" His father yelled sternly, getting up and smacking his hands on the table.

Sheen looked from his concerned mother to his angry father and back to his concerned mother, tears forming up in his eyes. He didn't want to admit that he was acting like a monster, and he definitely didn't want to admit he was throwing a temper tantrum. It was their fault. Not his. Theirs. They don't understand anything! _I'm glad I am leaving!_

Sheen ran upstairs and ran into his room, ripping his red suede shirt off of his back to inspect the scars. Sure, there were a bunch of scars on his back from his training, but he was focused on the three large scars that traveled from his neck down his right arm. The bird was ruthless. First, it grabbed onto his hair. If that wasn't traumatic enough, its claws traveled down through his arm, just inches away from his bone. As it was traveling down his arm, its beak was holding a chunk of his newly cut golden blonde hair. It spit it out to the ground, as if it was worthless, and dug his beak into Sheens arms. He had a huge bald spot in the middle of his head for days, had to wear an arm cast for what seemed like an eternity, and the post traumatic stress disorder was too much to handle. Ever since then he's been really obsessed with having perfect hair and even more obsessed with his fear of birds. He sighed, allowing his left hand to travel down his right arm, cringing as if it still hurt, but it didn't.

_Knock. Knock. Knock. _

"Sheen, honey, can I talk to you?" It was his mommy's voice. He needed to apologize for his behavior anyway.

He grabbed his red suede shirt and began to button it up again. "Yeah, come on in." He said, buttoning up the last button."Sweetie, are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine." He said. "Just a bit of post traumatic stress disorder I guess." He said, taking his comb out of his back pocket and working it through his hair.

"Sheen," Susan started, gently guiding his hand to the couch in his room. "Are you sure you want to volunteer?"

"Yeah, mom! Don't worry, I will be fine."

"But what if they have... Birds in the arena?"

"I killed a bird once, I can do it again." He explained to his mom, smiling. It was his favorite memory.

"You're only seventeen. You have a full life ahead of you."

"Don't say it like that, don't say only. I have been training for a good fight for seventeen years. True, I didn't know that my 17 years of survival and hunting skills would be used for this particular purpose, I still practiced different techniques of fighting, hunting, and surviving for seventeen years!

""Well, if you're sure..." Susan got up, and started crying. "You look very nice, and we should probably go. The peacekeepers will notice if we're late."

**Later, at the Reaping**

"Ladies and Gentlemen, welcome to the first annual Hunger Games Reaping Ceremony!" A young woman, probably around twenty, said a little too excitedly. "I am Pinky Silverscreen!" Sheen noticed the lime green highlights that were traveling down her purple, ankle- length hair. She was wearing a hot pink mini dress with a black spiked belt around her stomach. Her legs were covered by lime green leggings and she was wearing sparkled, bright red boots that traveled to her kneecap. Her eyes were surrounded with shiny orange eyeshadow and she was wearing fake eyelashes that had to be at least 4 inches long. "Before we begin, I would like to play a video clip that President Green himself has made and ordered to show at every district." She smiled and her teeth were blindingly white, except for one in the front which was a horrible yellow color. She grabbed a remote from the stand and played a video on a huge monitor.

Sheen tried to pay attention, but he was aware of everything that had happened. Why were they showing video clips? Everybody was aware of what happened.

After the thirty minute video and a fifteen minute introduction which explained that every tribute could take one token to remind them of home and that someone could volunteer for a tribute, and other things along those lines, Pinky finally made her way to two giant clear circles that were full of names. Sheen smiled and cleared his throat. "PICK A GUY FIRST!" he ordered from the back. Everybody turned around to see who the rude person was, but nobody knew it was him except for the few people around him. Pinky raised her eyebrow, thinking that was extremely rude, and made her way over to the guys bowl.

She cleared her throat. "The first male tribute to represent District 1 in the First Annual Hunger Games is... SHEEN LUX."

"I VOLUNTEER!" He screamed before anybody, even him, could react to the name that was called. "Oh, wait, did she say Sheen LUX?" Everybody was silent. One person coughed to break the silence. One person gave him a slight shove. He looked up at the expectant Pinky and smiled. "YEAH BUDDY!" He cheered. What an honor, and now it's not as if he is taking the honor away from anyone. He jogged up to the stage, giving people high fives on his way up. "I LOVE YOU MOM!" He screamed, jogging up the stairs to the stage.

"Well, Sheen Lux, you seem awfully excited to be up here. Why aren't you nervous?" Pinky asked, holding the microphone up to Sheen's mouth. She seemed a bit angry at his enthusiasm, but tried to cover it up with a fake personality and smile.

"Because I know I can win!" He said into the microphone. "EVERYBODY! Remember the tribute with the awesome hair because he will come back with FAME AND FORTUNE!" He snatched the microphone from Pinky's hand. "DISTRICT 1 I FIGHT FOR YOU! I PROMISE I WILL COME BACK WITH A POTION TO GET RID OF ALL BIRDS FOREVER! WHEN I SAY SHEEN, YOU SAY LUX. SHEEN!"

Nobody said anything.

"Luuux" He said weakly into the microphone.

Pinky snatched the microphone from his grip. "That's _enough_!" She said. "Now on to the ladies..."


	2. District 1 Girl and Tokens

_- District 1 Girl -_  
Kristine Dalerna looked into the full length mirror that rested on the wall near her bed. It was the one possession she didn't have to give up to get money. She would have rather kept her jewelry or shoes, but the mirror was nice, too. She looked almost perfect, but she was missing _something_. Her simple green dress toned down her strongly-built figure, and made her look more feminine. She was 5'8 and had tan skin, as a result of hanging around the beach too long. She also had dark brown eyes that had hints of green. She decided to just put a small starfish hair clip into her long, back-length, wavy brown hair. She let her hands travel down the flowing, emerald green clothing. It was the dress, it needed something. She made my way over to the closet and found a shiny, light blue, wide ribbon that she could tie around her waist. Perfect. She looked... beautiful. She looked like a mermaid, which is what she has always wanted to be, ever since she heard the story about the mermaid girl who turned into a human and fell in love with a prince. That was written at least one hundred years ago, of course, so she was pretty sure she was the only one who knew the story.

Next to her bed were some worn out flip-flops, slippers that belonged to her grandmother before she died, boots that her mother grew out of as a child, and beautiful green and blue flats that she had saved up all of her money to buy. They had jewels at the toe but the shoes themselves were sparkly. She had spent four months shoveling snow and walking dogs in the freezing cold to be able to afford these shoes, which reminded her of the ocean. She was just thankful that they never invented robots for that purpose, or anything.

She belonged to the richest district, but she was part of the small percentage in that district that definitely wasn't rich. She used to be pretty wealthy, popular, and well liked. That was before her brother, Jay, had killed a man. The mans name was Roger and he hated Jay for no reason at all, possibly because he thought Jay was just 'a rotten teenager'. Roger owned a store that sold fruit, meat, bread, snacks, and even a few articles of clothing. It was a store that was important to have around, but he had unreasonable prices, so Jay would always sell food to Roger's potential customers. That's probably why Roger hated Jay so much. Anyway, one day Roger came to his food stand and he was drunker than usual. He started screaming at Jay, calling him every swear word you could imagine. He started insulting Jay's family, too. Kristine was just eleven at the time, and Roger started making sexual jokes and references about her to Jay. He even started threatening to assault Kristine and kill their brother, Cody, who was just nine at the time. Roger also promised that he would torture their mother, Marilyn and kill their father, Reed. Fearing for his families lives, Jay stuck a knife through Rogers heart and ran away, not caring about all the food that would be stolen from his stand. He wanted to run home, explain what happened, gather up all he could, and run into the woods with his family. However, the peacekeepers caught him in time and we assume he was turned into an Avox, since it was the law at the time. From then on, all of the families income was cut off. The parents were fired, bosses saying they had a respectable business and couldn't have the parents of an Avox working for them. Nobody would hire them after that. The hundreds of dollars a day that Jay would make was gone, and the family wasn't even allowed to leave their district. Ever. Her and Cody have been trying so hard to earn their families honor back at the academy, but to no avail.

Kristine didn't blame her brother, though. How could she? He was trying to protect her. At least he was probably alive... Somewhere.

Either way, the Capitol was being completely hypocritical! How can they allow 23 innocent teenagers to be killed off PER YEAR and walk off like it's okay, and that it was entertaining, and there's no punishment? Yet, when a guilty man is killed, all hell breaks loose on the killer. She HATES the Capitol, because they're a bunch of idiots.

She made her way downstairs after looking at her reflection one last time. She couldn't allow herself to look perfect for those brutish people. She bent down and ribbed the bottom of her dress a bit. _That should show them that they don't deserve my perfection._

"Are you ready to go?" Kristine's father, Reed asked, grabbing Kristine's sweater.

"Yeah," she lied.

"Sweetie, your name is only in there four times. You're only fifteen. Don't worry about anything. Even if they do pick you, I don't think the Capitol has the heart to be that terrible to the Tributes." Kristine's mother, Marilyn, comforted.

"I guess not, but I submitted my name in there extra times for more food."

Marilyn just stood there shocked for a minute. "Oh, Kristine, you didn't!" She said, softly. Kristine nodded her head. "Kristine! We don't need food that bad! How many times did you submit it?"

"Twenty-Four" She whispered, head down. Immediately, Marilyn burst into tears, walking into the kitchen. She repeatedly kept saying 'I failed her. I failed her.' Marilyn had no idea how to comfort her, so she just left with her father.

**Later, at the reaping**

Kristine looked at the arrogant boy on stage. There was no way she was going to chant his name. Sure, he was very cute, but so full of himself. He was probably rich. She wondered how he would cope if he was in her position.

_Poor. _

_Hated. _

_Alone._

Sure, she had been trained in fighting since she was a little girl. She was tough. She was a good fighter, but good enough to win... If she got picked.

She hated that Sheen kid.

"Next, ladies!" Pinky Silverscreen made her way over to the other glass bowl, heels clicking against the stage floor. Kristine desperately wanted to hold onto somebodies hand, but she remembered that nobody liked her after his brothers crime.

"Drum Roll, please?" There was a small pitter patter of anxious parents and teenagers tapping on their knees. "KRISTINE DALERNA!" There were many sighs of relief. Nobody cared if she died. Nobody liked her... or her family. She just stood there, shocked, listening to the loud roar of applause. After a minute, she put on a brave, proud face to mask her tears and made her way up to the stage.

"Kristine, Congratulations!" Pinky said, smiling. She knew that Kristine wasn't actually happy. She knew Kristine was extremely afraid and wanted to cry. And Pinky LOVED IT."How does it feel knowing you, a 15 year old girl, have over a ninety percent chance of dying a painful death this month?" Pinky asked, smiling a wicked smile. She heard the audience laughing a bit, and she fed off of that.

"Well," Kristine started, swallowing. "Maybe if I win, my family will finally have a bit of honor again!" Kristine joked.

"Oh, you mean the honor that your brother destroyed?"

Kristine put on a fake smile and nodded.

"I mean, your _dead_ brother?"

Kristine looked at her in disbelief.

**Tokens**

_-Sheen-_

"My baby!" Susan ran in, crying, giving Sheen a hug. "I love you!"

"I love you too, mom. Mommy, it's fate." Sheen pushed his mother off of him. "It's fate. I wanted to be volunteer, and they called me anyway. It means I will win!" Sheen said, patting his mothers shoulder and giving her a kiss on the cheek. They stood there, hugging for a good fifteen seconds.

"You better!" His father said, roughly. "I trained you and I don't want to look bad!"

"Don't worry, dad. This is an ultimate test of my character, and I have a lot of character. And hair."

"Well, honey, I have this as a token for you." Susan took out a small bottle of hair gel, wiping the tears in her eyes with a sleeve. "You want to look good on television."

Sheen looked at his mother, tears forming in his eyes. "Thank you, mommy! Oh thank you!" He said, hugging her, crying. The peacekeepers, who were keeping guard, looked at each other in disbelief.

"Time to go!" One peacekeeper said, pulling Susan off of Sheen.

"You said five minutes!" Sheen yelled.

"I can't take any more of this. No more visitors for you." The Peacekeeper answered back, shoving the parents out of the room.

Sheen could hear his mothers cries of loss and agony.

_-Kristine- _

Kristine's mother and father came running in and immediately hugged her, crying. "Mom, you came!" Kristine said, hugging them, tears forming in her eyes.

"I couldn't stay home." She answered, tightening her grip. "I love you." She whispered.

"I love you, too." Kristine said, crying her eyes out.

They let go. Kristine could only imagine a mothers feelings right now, let alone HER mothers feelings. She already lost one child.

"I have this for you" Marilyn held out the blue and silvered jeweled necklace that had been in their family since the 2000's. "It's been in our family for centuries. I was going to give it to you on your eighteenth birthday." She sniffles. "But I think it would be best," She went behind Kristine's back to put the necklace on her. "To give it to you now."

The peacekeepers near the door started getting a bit teary eyed.

"Thank's mom." Kristine said, hugging her. "And, don't worry, you never failed me." She looked at her sad father. "Thank's dad." She made her way up to her neglected father and threw her arms around his neck. "I love you both so much!" She said, crying into her fathers shirt.

"We love you too, sweetie!" Her dad said, patting Kristine's back. He couldn't stop the tears from flowing down his face. "And sweetie, Jay is not dead."

"How do you know?" Kristine asked, teary eyed.

"TIMES UP!" A peacekeeper yelled. Pulling her parents away.

"DAAD!" Kristine let out an agonizing scream. "MOM!"

The doors were shut. They were gone.

They were gone.


	3. District 2

_-Luxor Shot-_

_You are the man. Every girl wants you and every guy wants to be you. You are God's gift to this Earth._

Some may say Luxor Shot is conceited. He is. Luxor Shot was looking in his bathroom mirror, combing his reddish-brown hair to perfection. It wasn't that hard, though. He could roll out of bed and look perfect. Even if he had no hair, which would never happen, his blue eyes were enough to win the girls over. He thought so, at least.

He heard a beeping coming from his room. He walked into his room slowly. Anybody who was trying to reach him would have to wait, because he didn't feel like rushing.

Incoming hologram chat from: Sydney

Sydney. His girlfriend. The love of his life. Well, _one_ of the loves of his life. They had only been together for two weeks, but even in that short amount of time Luxor professed his love for her countless times. He told her that they were going to get married someday, and he would take her away from this Country and go live on an island where Districts didn't exist and they could be together forever. She was about 5'7, had long blonde hair and big brown eyes and was extremely thin. She was a gymnast, but would happily miss practice for Luxor. She was beautiful, but extremely sweet at the same time. She was a prize. She was a prize who was in love with Luxor. It wasn't a petty crush anymore. She was IN LOVE.

Luxor pushed the green accept button and his beautiful girlfriend appeared on the screen. "Hey baby." She said, blowing him a kiss.

"What?" He said, a bit harshly.

"Well, I wanted your opinion on what I should wear to the reaping today. It's between this black dress with a stone necklace and a stone bracelet and some flats with fake stones at the toe..." she held up a knee length black dress. "Or this black dress," She held up a tight black dress that ruffled at the bottom. "With a stone necklace, a stone tiara, and those stone flats."

"Why would I care? It's not as if I am your boyfriend anymore."

"Wh - What?" She looked extremely concerned.

"Yeah, truth is I am getting bored with you."

"Is this... A JOKE? We've only been together for two weeks!" She said, getting a bit teary-eyed.  
"Ugh, don't remind me. It's been the longest two weeks of my _life_." Sydney started crying. "Oh, don't be so pathetic! You're putty in my hands now, Sydney, and I am after the chase. Not the girl. You're boring, you are annoying, and you're getting fat. I guess it's from missing all those gymnastic practices."

A waterfall was falling down Sydney's eyes. "I missed them for you! You said we were going to live together on an island and be together forever away from here."

"Ha! You actually believed that? Babe, I need to be surrounded by hundreds of girls in bikinis. Even if we did get married, I would cheat on you anyway. I need the ideal girl, Sydney, and you... are definitely not it." He said, looking her up and down.

She was hardly capable of speaking now, she just let her heads rest in her hands as she cried. "But last night... we..." she managed to get out.

"Oh, don't remind me. That was disgusting. I am going to have nightmares for years, you dog. Oh my gosh, stop crying. It makes you look uglier than you already are!"

"I can change -"

"Bye!" He said, pushing the 'hang up' button.

What other pathetic loser can I get and then dump? He asked himself, putting on his pale, suede button up shirt and dress pants.

_-Belle Hairmen-_

_If I get reaped this year, I am going to kill everybody one by one. First I will kill the weak people, then the people who irritate me, then the decent people, then my allies - if I decide to make an alliance. I am not that tall, I am a bit skinny, I am only fourteen, and that's good. People will doubt me. They won't notice how muscular, tough, or determined I am._

Belle Hairmen smiled at her thoughts as she stepped into her medium length black dress that fell to her knees. She held the locket that was hanging around her neck, which held a picture of her and her aunt, whom she treated like a sister. She smiled for the first time in months.

_'Aunt Bre, you're the only one who knows my true personality'_ she thought softly to herself, smiling. Underneath the anger, hate, resentment, and tough nature she was very caring and sweet. Too bad nobody would ever see that side of her. Especially if her name was drawn in the games. Nobody could ever see her as 'kind' again. Not after Aunt Bre was murdered. That... Peacekeeper... He shouldn't even be named peacekeeper, should be the one who was murdered. Does he not understand that she was going into the woods to get food for the less fortunate children? Aunt Bre was THE nicest person in the world and that idiot decided to kill her for her kind personality? The icing on the cake was when her best friend, Anna, mysteriously went missing just weeks after Aunt Bre was murdered. She blamed the peacekeepers. Belle used to be like Aunt Bre, kind and nice, but now she's cold and wants revenge.  
She ran downstairs. "Where are you going?" Her mother, Lillian, asked as Belle grabbed an apple and ran out the door.

"None of your business, Lillian!" Belle said, shooting her a dirty look over her shoulder. She wasn't wearing any shoes. She hated when her feet were closed in and wanted to be as free as possible. Plus, all the shoes that were sold in district 2 were so... feminine! It was disgusting, especially since they all had a connection to stones in some way. The stones hurt her toe. She wanted to be free from that. That's why she wore shorter dresses. They were easy to move in and they were simple.

She ran towards her favorite tree, which was hundreds of feet up in the air, and tried to climb it. She got to the third branch before she fell off. _Climbing, not one of my strengths_ she thought to herself as she tried her best to run a hand through her knotted, ratty, tangled hair. Why would she waste 15 minutes of the day on something as unimportant as hair when she could be training? She was always outside training, which explained her slightly tanned skin.

Belle spent the next fifteen minutes just talking to her Aunt Bre. As usual, however, there was no response. There was a minimal amount of comfort. Belle felt like she was talking to herself, and she started getting angry. She started yelling at her Aunt Bre a bit, just to let off some steam. She swore, she stomped, she yelled. _WHY AREN'T YOU ANSWERING ME, AUNT BRE? I AM TRYING TO TALK TO YOU!_ Belle started crying and fell to the ground. She kept saying 'I miss you, Aunt Bre.' until she fell asleep.

** -At the games-**  
_-Luxor Shot- _

Luxor stood in the section where all the seventeen year-olds were standing. Every seventeen year old gave Luxor a dirty look or whispered about him, gossiping about how he's stolen everybody's girlfriend at least once. Luxor responded by swearing at them and telling them that they're just jealous because they're all ugly.

"I hope you get reaped!" One guy said under his breath, since the entire district was quiet.

"Yeah? Well I am planning on volunteering anyway, dogface."

"Good, I hope you go and don't come back!" Another guy said angrily.

"We both know that's not a possibility!" Luxor laughed.

"Well while you're gone I will just get Sydney back, you know, since you STOLE her from me?" Said a 6' seventeen year old with short brown hair.

"Oh that dog? I broke up with her this morning. I told her she is ugly, not ideal, fat, annoying, desperate, boring -" he droned on, listing every insult he could think of.

The tall guy with the short brown hair screamed and jumped toward Luxor, cursing him. It took three guys to hold him back. "Chill out, Bryan!" one said. "He is volunteering, karma will come to him. We will let the tributes deal with him!"

Luxor laughed. "Yeah, chill out Bryan!" Bryan glared at him and turned toward the stage, unaware that everybody was looking at them and Sydney was admiring his kindness from afar.

"Welcome to the First Annual Hunger Games Reaping Ceremony!" said an entirely too cheerful woman. She was probably in her forties but her heavy make-up made it hard to tell. "My name is Glitza Grapeberry and I am going to be the tributes escort. Before we begin, President Green has put together a small video that he has ordered every district to watch before the reaping takes place!" She clicked a red button on a remote and pointed it toward the screen. The most boring video ever started playing, and Luxor couldn't pay attention for the life of him. Nobody could. It seemed like an eternity before President Green's speech on the video was finally over and the woman started making an introduction speech.

_-Belle Hairmen- _

Belle woke up in an uncomfortable position. She was laying on a rock, staring up at the sky which was covered by that extremely tall tree's leaves._"Ugh!"_ She said, removing the rock from underneath her back. She could see the sun a bit between the leaves and immediately sat up. _"Crap!"_ she said to herself, checking the time on a little clock she had in her pocket._ "Crap, crap, crap, crap, crap!"_ She said, getting up. She was so grateful she had no belongings with her except for that apple that she would leave behind. She got up, swearing every swear word in the book. She started running as fast as she could to the towns square where the reaping ceremony was taking place. Possibly, she could sneak in without being noticed, depending on the way it was set up. She could probably get there in fifteen minutes if she ran, quickly.

_-Luxor Shot-_

"So I have been notified that my good friend, Pinky, the escort from District 1 has picked the male tribute first. I say we follow her example!" Glitza made her way over to the guys clear bowl.

_-Belle Hairmen-_

Belle was running as fast as she could, she was probably only a fourth of a mile away, She needed to catch her breath, but she couldn't. What if they called her name and she wasn't there? She would turn into an Avox, which is probably worse than death. It was an agonizing run because she had no shoes on. She would constantly step on rocks and glass, but she wouldn't stop for anything.

_-Luxor Shot-_

"LUXOR SHOT!" Glitza called out into the microphone, scanning the audience for the unlucky teenager. Luxor looked around to his fellow peers, many of them were laughing. He wasn't freaked out, but he didn't move. He expected someone to volunteer, because he was worth it. He was more important than everybody in that district, in his mind, so why _wouldn't_ somebody volunteer for him? "Luxor Shot, come out come out wherever you are!" Glitza sang.

Luxor looked at the taunting seventeen year olds who were making jokes about his future death. He shrugged his shoulders and made his way to the stage, putting on a fake smile. "Well, hello there Mr. Shot!" Glitza greeted him.

"Hello there Miss. Grapeberry! How are you today?" He asked in his sweetest tone.

"Very well, how are you?" She asked, smiling. She put her microphone up to his mouth.

"Not too good, by girlfriend dumped me this morning." He lied, putting on a pouty face to get sympathy. Glitza grabbed her heart and stuck her bottom lip out. Sydney stood in her section, frozen.

"I am so sorry to hear that!" Glitza said. "What's her name?"

"Oh, well I am not usually the kind of guy to blurt out things like that but _SYDNEY RICHARDSON!"_ He shouted, loud enough so District 12 could hear him. Sydney shrunk down out of embarrassment and anger. The tall brown haired guy looked ready to kill Luxor, which just made Luxor smile bigger.

"Well she must be a fool to dump a kind gentlemen like yourself!" Luxor nodded sadly.

_- Belle Hairmen -_

Belle tiptoed behind a peacekeeper, looking for her section and trying to figure out a way to get there. Luckily she was small and unnoticeable, for the most part. There was a clear path between the guarding peacekeepers and the possible tributes, so she had no luck blending in. She noticed that the peacekeepers were looking up and forward. She could possibly crawl silently and make her way to the tributes.

That's just what she did. Unfortunately, though, her movement was more obvious then she thought it would be. Glitza immediately saw her. "You there! What's your name?" Glitza yelled over the microphone. She didn't answer, she just kept crawling. "Stop! I said stop! What's your name?" Still no answer, just a crawl. "Peacekeepers!" Glitza summoned the peacekeepers to grab Belle and she angrily glared at the ugly woman, who was walking up to her. "What's your name?" She asked again, face to face.

"Belle Hairmen." she said angrily.

"Well, Belle Hairmen, I suppose we found our female tribute!" Glitza grabbed Belle's arm and yanked her on stage. Belle was extremely angry, but she just stepped on the stage looking determined and intimidating.

Luxor Shot saw her reaction and decided she would probably be hard to get, so he'd decided to pursue her next. He loved the chase, and right when she fell in love with him, he'd go for another hard-to-get girl. He smiled to himself and Belle glared at him and rolled her eyes.

"Do you have anything to say?" Glitza asked, holding the microphone to Belle's mouth. Belle just spit on the ground and marched into the Justice Building, awaiting her visitors.

_-Luxor Shot- _  
Luxor Shot sat on the couch of his room for fifteen minutes. He didn't expect his mother, father, or any of his seven brothers to come and say goodbye, and that didn't really bother him. He didn't care about them, and they didn't care about him. That's the way it's been since he was born, and it wasn't going to change just because he had a good chance of dying. He decided to take the comb he had in his back pocket as a token, and marched onto the train after the fifteen minutes of being alone. As he stepped onto the train, he tried to hide his tears.

_-Belle Hairmen-_  
"Sweetie," Belle's parents came walking in through the curtain, crying.

"Lillian, Henry, let's not make this harder then it has to be." Belle suggested. "I am going to the arena. I am coming back alive. Let's just hug and say goodbye without any tears."

"But, Belle..." Belle gave her parents an angry look.

"Okay," Lillian sniffled, trying to hold back tears, figuring Belle just didn't want to cry. "Well I have this as token for you." She held out a bracelet with a picture of Belle and them from years ago. Belle didn't even look at it.

"I am taking my locket." She said.

"But, Belle, don't you want to remember us?" Henry asked, trying to stay strong for his wife.

"I will remember you. It's only a month." Belle spat out. "I have to go." She turned to go through the curtain, a bit confused as to why she was being so mean to her parents, but not saying anything about it.

"Belle!" Lillian called out. "I love you."

Belle turned around. "Okay." she said, and left.


	4. District 3

_-Bolt Zicon- _

"So how are you feeling right now?" The psychiatrist was sitting on a big, red, comfy leather chair and he had an electronic notepad in front of him.

"I feel... Hungry." The skinny, short seventeen year old said, looking up to the ceiling. The psychiatrist sighed. His patient was obviously under-fed. He looked in his suit case and tossed him a health bar, a snack the psychiatrist really wanted to eat with his lunch?

"What are your emotions right now?" The psychiatrist stared at his patient intently.

"Alone."

"Alone?"

"I need a father." Bolt started tearing up at the mention of the word father. "I really wish I could have been good enough for Dad to love me." A tear ran down Bolt's face.

"Well you have your mother." The psychiatrist said, typing something on his electronic device.  
"Will a mom teach me how to hunt? Will a MOM teach me how to fight?" Bolt yelled, sitting up. "WILL a MOM teach me how to FISH? WILL A MOM TEACH ME HOW TO FIX A FRIGGIN CAR?" Bolt got up and walked to the bookshelf, punching it to let off steam.

"Bolt, I need you to calm down right now. Have you been using your medication?"

"OF COURSE I HAVE!" Bolt lied, throwing a book across the room. "WHY? AM I NOT NORMAL TO YOU?"  
"Bolt, let's move on." The psychiatrist suggested, motioning to the couch that Bolt was laying on previously.

Bolt looked at the couch and smiled. "Sure thing! It's comfy enough!" He jumped on the couch.

"Tell me about the time when your father left." The psychiatrist ordered, lowering his glasses.

"Well," Bolt smiled. "I had gotten back from work at the factory and Liza had talked to me for the first time. I thought it was the best day ever until I got home and saw the note my dad had left on my bed."

"What did the note say?"

Bolts smile turned into a frown. He looked as if he was returning to the day he saw the letter.

"Some of the words are a bit hazy." Bolt lied. He remembered it, word for word.

"It's okay. Just recite what you know."

_Bolt,_  
_I really want to love you, but I can't. You have too many issues that I am not prepared to deal with. I left you your mother, I didn't make her come with me. I wish I could say that I will always love you, but I can't. I can't live a minute longer with your bipolar disorder. You are too messed up. ... I can't say that I love you now, but I can say that I loved you when you were a child. If anybody asks, I am not your dad. I can't consider you 'son'. Please accept this and don't try to contact me again._  
_Sincerely, Ryan_

"He couldn't even acknowledge me as son. He signed it... Ryan." Bolt got up. "I have to go." He grabbed his jacket and ran out of the door.

_-Lillana Kitch_-

"When are you working 'till today?" Lillana Kitch asked her mother through a hologram.

"Until around 11:00." Her mother, Jane, answered, preoccupied with the different electionics scattered around the office.

"P.M.?" Lillana looked down, nervously awaiting an answer.

"Yeah." Her mother, Beth, answered, checking different messages on her interactive message board, which was a bit like an iPad from around 2012.

"So, you will miss the reaping?" Lillana asked, head still down.

"Yeah." Her mother answered, looking up. "Oh Lillana, don't pout. It's not as if you'll get reaped!"  
"I might!" Lillana protested, looking up.

"Oh, Lillana, don't be ridiculous! And fix your hair."

Lillana pushed her long, red,wavy hair back and sighed heavily. "Fine, mom. You're probably right." Lillana pushed the 'Hang up' button and dove in her bed. She immediately screamed in her pillow and checked the time. 10:15 A.M. The reaping would start in an hour and forty-five minutes.  
She made her way to her vanity. Her mother was right. Her hair was a mess, and it needed to be fixed. She brushed through her long, dark red hair. It looked as if she's just recently come out of the ocean, so it was extremely messy. Lillana took out her curling iron and let it heat up. While waiting, she went into her closet. Fashion was her main concern right now, and she was really focused on what to wear.  
She threw a yellow dress on the ground, then a pink skirt, then a black T-Shirt. She brushed her hair back with her hand again. She had nothing to wear, which was pretty bad because the thing she was known for around District 3 was her sense of fashion. It wasn't the ugly Capitol fashion she was interested in, if you could even call that fashion. It was a more subtle, yet chic type of fashion.  
Her curling iron beeped and she sat down, slowly taking small strands of hair and twisting them around the iron.

Maybe I can wear that red dress with the bow on the one shoulder. No, too much. The reaping isn't THAT formal. Maybe a jean skirt and a T-Shirt would do? No, too casual. There had to be SOMETHING she could wear. She turned around, still curling her hair. She saw a light green scarf with sparkles on it and spun her wheely chair around to face the mirror again. She let go of the iron and sprayed her hair in place, unplugging the iron. That was the last strand. Her hair was flawless. Bouncy, voluminous, perfect!

She decided on a light green pick-up style dress that went to her knees with the light green scarf, black flats, and a black belt. She found some black ribbon and quickly made her way to the sewing machine to work two strands of ribbon just on the bottom right corner of her dress. It was her trademark. She always wore two stripes on the lower half of her outfit.

Now for makeup. She sat at her vanity again and smiled at her reflection. She looked almost perfect. The black on her outfit complimented her grayish-blue eyes. She just needed a touch of black on her eyelids - wait, where was her black eyeshadow? Lillana opened up all of her drawers, before just sitting there frowning.

"PRECIOUS! ANGEL!" Lillana screamed at the top of her lungs. A pair of seven year old twins guiltily came into her room. "Where is MY eyeshadow?"

"Angel took it!" Precious said, pointing at her seven year old twin.

"NUH-UH!" Angel said, pushing Precious. "YOU took it so you could play the EVIL WITCH!"

"That's a lie!" Precious said, pushing Angel back. "YOU played the evil witch. I played the princess.""I don't care who took it, I just want it back!" Lillana said, holding her hand out. Precious sighed and gave her the eyeshadow she was hiding behind her back.

"THANK you." Lillana said, angrily, sitting down. "What did Zebba make for dinner?"

"Oh, thats right! Zebba called and said she was running late and couldn't make dinner."

"WHAT?" Lillana sat there and fumed. "I didn't save up all of my babysitting money for three years to hire a maid that would bail at the time I needed her most!" Lillana rolled her eyes. "ZAYN!"

Lillana got up and walked out of her room down the hall. She pounded on her brothers door. Music was blasting from his room. "ZAYN! I NEED YOUR HELP!" No answer. "ZAYN!"

"WHAT?" Zayn asked, opening the door. Lillana stared at him in disgust. How could two siblings be so... Different? She was so well kept and looked so nice and his hair was down to his shoulders and dyed black. He even wore eyeliner and tattoos.

"Why aren't you getting ready for the reaping?" She asked, waving away the stench coming from his room.

"I'm not going." He started to close the door but she stopped it with her arm.

"The Capitol will kill you." Lillana reminded him.

"They will never know."

I need you to feed the girls. Zebba is running late."

"You're the chef in this house." Zayn said, closing the door again. Lillana stopped it again.

"I ALWAYS cook and I NEED to get ready. Just put a frozen pizza in the oven or something."

"No!" Zayn coughed, closing the door.

"YOU'RE EIGHTEEN NOW. ITS TIME TO START DOING YOUR PART." She pounded on the door. "ZAYN!" Then she had an idea. "OH! I GET IT. YOU'RE NOT SKILLED ENOUGH. YOU COULDN'T COOK DINNER EVEN IF YOU TRIED. ALL YOU CAN DO IS LISTEN TO MUSIC."

Suddenly, the door opened and she jumped back. "Oh, yeah? I will be right back."

_-Bolt Zicon-_

Bolt walked to the seventeen-year-old section in his green T-Shirt and tan dress pants. It was his nicest clothing. Almost as soon as he got there, a video tape started playing about the rebellion that took place just a few months before. Why were they showing this video? It was 30 minutes long and about 30 minutes too long at that.

"Welcome, welcome!" A woman onstage said in a sing-song voice. Her hair was about 7 feet long and was standing up at the top of her head. She had a gold tattoo on the side of her face. "My name is Zelda Beckerman but you may call me Z-Beck! Now, we have all seen the public service announcement last week on the television explaining what the Hunger Games are, so I see no need for a long, drawn-out introduction. Let's get started!"

She made her way over to the guys bowl. "Lets do men first!" She said. She picked up the first piece of paper. "Is there a Bolt Zicon anywhere in the audience?"

The crowd cheered. Nobody liked Bolt. In fact, they all absolutely hated him because of his unpredictable bipolar disorder. He looked at the cheering crowd and two bigger men literally carried him onstage, as he was kicking and screaming.

"Hello, Bolt. Have you anything to say?" Z-Beck held a microphone up to Bolts mouth and he screamed at the top of his lungs, tears running down his face. He ran around and jumped off the stage to run away, but the two boys were at the bottom of the stage to catch him and bring him back up. Everybody laughed. He kept saying that he didn't want to go. "Bolt! Do you have anything to say?" Z-Beck asked again, getting a bit concerned.

Bolt just stood there for a few seconds, before jumping up. "YYEESSSSSS!" he said, cheering. He ran around, pumping his fist in the air. "YES I DO!" He yelled in the microphone. "THIS IS THE BEST DAY OF MY LIFE."

Z-Beck looked at him like he had five heads and lifted the microphone to her own lips. "Now on to the girls." She announced, confused.

_-Lillana Kitch-_

Every seventeen year old held hands. If one of them was picked, they wouldn't know what to expect but every one of them wanted a support system. They all knew that, despite what would happen, they had the support of the seventeen year olds around them. Lillana held her friends hands particularly tight. For one brief moment, she felt a connection with everybody her age.

Z-Beck made her way to the opposite glass bowl. She cleared her throat and let her hand make its way into the bowl. She played around for the perfect paper for a bit before picking one near the bottom. She took it out of the bowl and unfolded the paper. She looked up and scanned the crowd, looked down, and cleared her throat."LILLANA KITCH!"

Lillana stood there, paralyzed. She could feel the hundreds and hundreds of eyes just staring at her, waiting for a reaction. She scanned the crowd for her parents, Rowan and Jane, but of course they weren't there.

_This has to be a joke._

_This has to be a joke._

_This is a joke._

_This can't be real. _

_They're joking._

_Oh, God, please let it be a joke._

She felt a shove forward but didn't have the willpower to look back and see who it was.

"Lillana Kitch?" Z-Beck said into the microphone again.

_This isn't a joke._

Lillana reluctantly made her way up to the stage, millions of thoughts running through her head.

_Who is going to take care of the twins? Will I die? Will they make my death slow and painful? Will they take care of my family or just leave them to die, as well?_

It seemed like a seven hour walk of shame but she finally made her way to the stage.

"Hello, hello, Lillana. Have you anything to say?" Z-Beck held the microphone up to Lillana just stared forward.

Frozen.

Scared.

"Okay, then! Will our tributes please make their way to the Justice Building? The families and friends will have 5 minutes each with them!"

_-Bolt Zicon-_

Bolt sat on the couch, praying to God that his father would come in and cry for his son. That he would say that he was proud of him and that he loved him.

That never happened.

Instead, his mother came in hysterically. She wasn't even capable of forming words, so she wrote it down on some notebook paper.

_Bolt,_

_I love you._

_Despite what others think of you, you're perfect._

_You will win._

_I am on your side._

_I am betting on you._

It was hard for her to see what she was writing with the tears forming up in her eyes. He could hardly read it, because her hand shaking made the letters barely legible. He read it, and for a brief moment it didn't seem like he had a bipolar disorder. He was just sad. He just cried.

His mother took a yellow wire from her pocket and started to tie it around his wrist as a token, but a peacekeeper stopped her.

"The Capitol won't allow that as a token. It could be used as weaponry. Now, it's time for you to go."  
Bolts mother let out a scream of loss and agony. "NO! I am all he has! He is all I have! BOLT!"

She was gone

And as much as he didn't want to believe it, he knew no one else was coming for him.

_-Lillana Kitch-_

Lillana sat on the red couch of the Justice Building in a fetal position. Millions of thoughts were running through her head at once, but her main concern was her two win sisters. They fought, but she loved them.

Her mother came walking through the door slowly, starting to cry at the sight of her daughter.

"Mom, you said you didn't get off of work until 11!"

"Someone called me and told me. I couldn't stay at work and not say goodbye to you."

"Yeah? Well maybe you should have. Do you know how much money you are losing right now? You need to support Precious and Angel. That IS your first priority, RIGHT?"

"Yeah."

"YES or NO. It's time to be serious. Are you going to act like a MOTHER to them for once in their lives?" Lillana hated being so mean, but she needed to be stern to her mother so she could be sure her sisters would be okay.

"Yes, yes." Lillana looked at her hysterical mother and pulled her in for a hug. "I am so sorry I wasn't a good mother."

"Mom, don't reflect on the past right now. Look at the present. I love you." Lillana squeezed her mother tighter. Her mother never protected her in her life, but for some odd reason Lillana still felt protection when she hugged her mother.

Jane, Lillana's mother, felt a tear fall on her shoulder.

"2 minutes!" A peacekeeper announced, which made Jane abruptly break the hug. "I have this for you." Jane removed a diamond necklace from around her neck and went behind Lillana to put it on her. She went to the front of Lillana and gave her a weak smile, just staring in awe at the beautiful young woman she had become.

"Tell me, how did you become such a perfect young lady when you didn't even have a mother to guide you?" Lillana didn't answer, she didn't know whether to smile at that or feel sad. "The necklace is an apology. I know it's not nearly what you deserve for seventeen years of neglect and seven years of mothering two children but -"

"Mom, don't reflect on the past. Look at the present. I love you" Lillana repeated, pulling her mother again for another hug.


	5. District 4

_A/N: Hey everyone. I just wanted to thank you all for reading this. If you check your messages, you will see that you have each gotten an important message from me. Check it out if you haven't seen it yet. Also, I am probably going to make a blogspot with all of the tributes, so stay tuned for that!_

_**IMPORTANT NOTICE:** This chapter is not designed to make fun of ANYBODY. The male tribute is not my own, and I wanted to make it clear that I AM NOT MAKING FUN OF ANYBODY. It's a great tribute, but it may be taken the wrong way. I am not making fun of anybody. You can be whoever you want to be. (:_

_**IT GETS REALLY JUICY TOWARD THE REAPINGS**_

_-Caterina Acqua-_

_Just one more mile, You can run one more mile before dinner!_

Caterina's long, strong legs were running along the beach of District 4. She wore a sleeveless black and lime green pinny, black athletic shorts, and black sneakers. Her shoulder-length golden blonde hair was brought back into a ponytail, as usual. She could smell the lovely salty scent that could only be given by the sea. She could hear the waves peacefully crashing against the sand, perfectly in rhythm with her jogging. She could see the beautiful seashells that glistened after being brought to the shore by a wave. She could feel the utter joy that only the ocean could give her... Other than her father, twin sister, or best friend, Caylee, of course.

She may have only been thirteen years old, but many people have told her she looked sixteen. She took after her mother that way, with a mature face and attitude.

_I wonder what mom was like. People say she looked and acted just like me. They say she was athletic, kind, and gentle. They say she had beautiful golden blonde hair and caramel eyes. It's comforting that we are so alike. I can't understand how the Capitol could bomb her store nine years ago, just because they felt like it. Just because they were bored. And yet, if someone were to kill a guilty man, the killer would become an Avox! And now these Hunger Games, that's just crossing the line!_

Caterina was getting so annoyed at this point, just wishing she could punch a wall, but she was still running. She decided to just change the subject.

_I feel bad for dad, having to deal with and support two teenage girls by himself, especially considering how poor we are. I should do something nice for him, maybe clean the house. Maybe... Ugh, when am I going to find time with all the training I have to catch up on? Wow, I am really running out of breath here. Have I finished the last mile yet? I must be getting close. Anyway, Thank God I decided to start training when they announced the Hunger Games. I wish I had started training sooner, since I've only gotten 3 months in. And I REALLY wish Rosanna decided to train with me. You can't take any chances, after all, and she's not what you would call the 'fittest' girl in District 4. In fact.._.

Suddenly, her watch beeped, halting both her running and her train of thoughts. She looked at it, panting.

_12 miles. That's a new record, almost a half marathon! AND, it's only 8:30. I still have 2 hours to train, then I will get ready and grab a snack on the way to the reaping. Oh, Gosh. I don't want to go to the reaping._

**_-Pagarus Auriga-_**

"Zabrina, you always look fierce. You are so beautiful, but some of these clothes don't accentuate your natural beauty." Pagarus tossed a short yellow dress aimlessly to the floor. "Oi vey, what I wouldn't give to live in District 8!" He mumbled to himself, throwing his hand to his forehead. That was a lie. He was happy to live where he did. With his friends. Near water.

The opposite of fire.

That's why he could never survive in District 12. It reminded him too much of fire. When he was 4, the Capitol bombed District 4 because they were bored and it started a huge fire. He and his dad almost died. A tragic death.

Pagarus shook that memory from his head quickly.

"Zabrina! Come over here." The small, bubbly seventeen year old girl walked happily to her best friend, Pagarus. She really wanted to be popular, starting today! Pagarus looked down at the girls choice of clothing. She was wearing baggy jeans, a green striped T-Shirt, and white sneakers. "Okay, when you go to the reaping, you really want to look _fierce_. So, I am going to throw out your entire wardrobe, and we will go shopping for a new, improved fierce one. You have money, right?"

"Well, yes but -"

"Never mind, I will pay for you! It would be my pleasure to help you. Do you want a makeover, too? I will pay for that. Manicure? Pedicure? Whatever you want, I would be happy to help you. Though, you don't need any of that. You are fabulous and fierce either way." He said, walking out the door and almost banging his head on the frame because of his tall 6'5 structure. He turned around. "Are you coming?" He asked, swiping some of his golden blonde hair out of his brown eyes.

"Oh, yes!" Zabrina said, shaking out of her mesmerized stare at his perfectly tanned skin. "Coming!" She followed him. Zabrina was the only one that knew that he wasn't actually gay, _not that there would be anything wrong with that._ She so desperately wanted to be his girlfriend, but was afraid of what everyone else would think, considering almost everybody thought he was gay. For that reason, he wasn't really a serious love option.

"Okay let's hurry this up then! I still want to be able to go see Zelda, Chandra, David, Jerry, and Jazmine before the reaping, just to say goodbye. Just incase."

He allowed his head to fall down. Just the thought of being reaped, just the thought of having to hurt an innocent person, just the thought of never being able to see Zabrina again. That hit something deep inside. He really, really liked her. She's the only one that knew him. She was one of the only ones that not only knew, but believed he wasn't gay.

_**NOT THAT THERE'S ANYTHING WRONG WITH THAT.**_

She just seemed embarrassed of him, so he never pushed it any further.

"Pagarus, if you got reaped, I would cry. Literally, and truly, cry. You are my best friend."

"And if you were reaped, I wouldn't be able to live. I wouldn't even be able to volunteer for you!"

"I wouldn't let you, even if you could!"

Suddenly, they moved closer to each other. They stared into each others eyes lovingly. They grabbed one anothers hands. Their lips started moving closer. And closer. And closer. Until they were just inches away.

Suddenly, Zabrina stopped moving forward and instead, started walking back, holding her hands between them until they were at a safe distance apart. She grabbed her purse and made her way to the door. "Well, time's a wasting, isn't it? Wow, it's already 8:30. Where did the time go?" She asked, rushing out the door.

Pagarus watched her walk out the door. He was confused, hurt, and so upset. What had just happened?

"Are you coming?"  
"...No. I mean, um, something just came up. And, I have to go. Maybe another day I can help you. Or give you a makeover. You look fierce anyway. Good luck at the reaping." He said, taking his bag and running out?

_**-Caterina Acqua-**_

Caterina stepped in front of the full length mirror in the room that she shared with Rosanna.

_A blue necklace, and... Perfect!_

She turned around to face her sister, who was currently studying for the next days test. "How does this look?" She asked, throwing her hands out to her sides to present the outfit even more. She was wearing a beautiful blue one shoulder, layered top and a blue jean skirt with blue wedges. It wasn't exactly her 'style', she would have much rather had worn a T-shirt, shorts, and sneakers, but her best friend Caylee the fashionista, said that this was perfect for the reaping.

"It's not really you. But, it's pretty!" Her twin said, looking down at her book again.

"What do you mean, it's not me?" She pouted, turning to the mirror again. Was her sister hinting that she wasn't fashionable?

Rosanna put her book down and got up. "Well imagine, heaven forbid, that you DO get reaped. You want them to see your true personality. You want them to feel confident in the fact that you are strong enough to represent District 4 and actually WIN this. You can be fashionable and tough, but the plain truth of the matter is that many people will see you as fake, weak, or superficial."

Caterina hated how smart her sister was. "Well then, what do you suppose I wear?" She asked, looking in the mirror.

"Hold on a sec" Rosanna ordered, going to their closet and choosing an outfit. She pulled out blue jean shorts, a black T-Shirt, and black sneakers.

"Rosanna, I can't wear that!"

"Why?"

"Well, this is a _formal_ event!"

"What's so formal about a competition about fighting and death?" Rosanna asked.

Caterina looked into the mirror and sighed. She loved the outfit she was wearing now. She looked beautiful with her curled hair and her makeup. Rosanna was right, though, as much as Caterina hated to admit it.

"So, what are _you_ wearing?"

"An oversized plaid button up, shorts, suspenders, converse, nerd glasses, and a side ponytail. People will know how smart I am and if I get reaped, they will be more likely to sponsor me because they will know I am smart!"

"Or they will think you are weak!

"They'd think I was weak if I came dressed in a pink mini skirt and high heels!" Rosanna said in a high voice, tiptoeing to her bed like a girly girl. Then, she returned to her normal voice. "They may think I am weak, but if I come dressed in a dress with my blonde hair they might think of me as dumb and weak. Of course, not all blonde girly-girls are like that, but you know... Stereotypes. BUT if I came in nerd clothes they might think I am at least smart enough to set traps... And calculate and stuff."

"Yeah, I guess we're both pretty good at calculating. Do you have extra nerd glasses?"

"Sure!"  
Rosanna handed her an extra pair and they walked out the door, Caterina grabbing an oversized black hoodie, and went to say goodbye to their loved ones, just incase.

_**-Pagarus Auriga-**_

Pagarus came storming in his house as he threw the bag on the floor. "What's wrong, son?" His father asked.

"Oh, nothing! NOTHING AT ALL. Just because I take after mom with my interest in fashion automatically cuts me out as a romantic option to EVERY GIRL I LIKE." He stopped quickly after saying that, realizing how embarrassing it was to say that to his father.

"Son, you're mother isn't here anymore. She died shortly after labor -"

"SO? Why do you have to bring that up? WHAT does that have to do with ANYTHING?"

"All I am saying is that there's no possible way you could actually know that she was into fashion."

"Oh my goodness, dad. You've told me countless times how she was always dressed perfectly, even when she was just going out to the store. Anyway, what does this have to do with Zabrina?"

"It's Zabrina you like?" His dad asked, smiling. He really thought Zabrina was a nice girl. "Why? What happened?"

"Forget it! I have to get ready for the reaping!" Pagarus said, storming up the staircase to his room. "WHY DO I EVEN BOTHER TRYING? MAYBE I WILL JUST VOLUNTEER FOR THE GAMES SO PEOPLE WHO ACTUALLY HAVE A CHANCE AT LOVE AND WHO DO SEE THE POINT IN LIFE WON'T DIE!" He yelled up the stairs, slamming the door shut. He didn't mean that at all, and his father knew that. He would never want to be in the games. He was absolutely too nice and too gentle. Even when he started training a few months ago, the trainers were far too tough on him, and nobody liked him because he was so nice. He couldn't see himself killing anyone. Ever. It would take a lot for him to volunteer for the games.

He just needed to be alone to get ready for the reaping ceremony.

He looked in his mirror, wondering what would impress Zabrina the most. No, never mind. He was angry at her. He would dress for himself. What he liked to wear. He walked over to his dresser and found some tan pants, jeans, and black pants. He decided on the tan pants and a nice blue dress shirt with blue shoes. Nice enough so he doesn't look like a slob, but subtle enough so he doesn't look overly flamboyant. He walked to the bathroom and gelled his hair perfectly.

He looked really handsome, but not too flashy. He looked perfect for this brutal event.

_Later..._

"Bye, Jazmine. You are beautiful, fierce, and talented in all that you do. If either of us gets reaped, just know I am thinking of you."

"Bye, Pagarus. You are the most selfless, kind, and gentle person I have ever met. Don't worry, neither of us are getting reaped."

Hug.

"Bye, Chandra. You are so incredibly smart and beautiful. I will be thinking of you, no matter what happens."

"Don't say bye, I will see you a few hours after the reaping. You won't get picked."

Pagarus smiled."Neither will you"

Hug.

"Bye, Zelda. You are the funniest person I have ever met and if I get reaped and I can't find my way out of a depression, I will think of you and instantly smile.

"Pagarus, you are the kindest, sweetest person ever. You won't get reaped because people like you don't DESERVE to get reaped."

Hug.

"David. I will talk to you later, bro. Maybe if one of us doesn't get reaped, you can finally teach me how to play football."

"Bye, Jerry! Don't take Zabrina while I am gone." He said quietly and laughed as he pulled him in for a hug. He was one of the only ones who knew Pagarus' love for Zabrina.

Jerry laughed, because he used to have a major crush on Zabrina as well and when Jerry and Pagarus were in sixth grade, they got into a fight about it and didn't speak until the end of seventh grade. Finally, Pagarus felt bad about it and apologized and Jerry admitted that he didn't even remember what the fight was about. Now, they are best friends.

Hug.

Pagarus's watch beeped. It was now or never.

**_-Caterina Acqua-_**

Caterina walked to the town square after saying goodbye to all her loved ones. She instantly felt embarrassed by her choice of clothing. Sure, some people weren't sure what to wear and they were in sweats, but most were in beautiful dresses and jewelry. She shot Rosanna an 'I told you so!' look and Rosanna responded with a 'Shut up. I know I am right!' look. Caterina rolled her eyes and moved walked toward the line that all of the teenagers were forming. Nobody was speaking, and while she was sure it wouldn't be a big deal, she decided not to speak either. She didn't want to stand out like that. She already stood out by her choice of clothing. She could feel peacekeepers eyes on her, so she moved her hands uncomfortably to her back pockets and wondered if she should take off her nerd glasses.

And then there was Valarie. She walked up behind Rosanna and Caterina. She looked flawless in her pink knee length pick up style dress with the white belt and the white ankle boots. Her long, blonde hair was curled beautifully and it had a PERFECT white flower in it. She shot the twins a glare and she gave a loud laugh. It didn't grab the attention of many, though.

"Something FUNNY, Valerie?" Caterina asked, folding her arms.

"Do you really have to ask?" Valerie asked, looking Caterina up and down and giggling with her other plastic friend, Ashley. She had a poofy pink dress with pink heels, a pearl bracelet, and straight bleach blonde hair. "Aww, don't feel bad!" Valerie continued, though it was completely unneccesary. "You're not ALL ugly. Well, no, that's actually a lie... But look on the bright side. You MIGHT get a date for the dance next week. Oh wait, your cousin is busy that day, isn't he?" She asked, and then turned to Ashley and giggled.

_I hate her. I hope she gets reaped!_ Caterina thought as she clenched her fists. Then, she felt a hand on her fist. She looked down to see Rosanna's hand and she relaxed. Rosanna is right. That's a terrible thought to think. Gosh, I hate this twin conversation we have. Caterina turned around and face forward in line, away from Valerie.

"You guys look absolutely awful!" Valerie commented. Caterina looked over her shoulder to see her blowing on her PERFECT nails. They were long and clear with a pink sparkly french tip. Caterina rolled her eyes and Rosanna gave her a look to tell her to calm down.

"You know, Valarie, I didn't think you would be one to talk!" Caterina commented, turning around and folding her arms in front of her. Valarie let out a laugh.  
"Oh yeah, and why is that?" Valarie said nastily, touching the flower in her hair and then putting her hand on her hip, moving all of her weight, which was only about 120 pounds, to her long left leg, which was now bent while her long right leg was straight.

"CUZ YOU HAVE A BIG UGLY PIMPLE RIGHT IN THE MIDDLE OF YOUR FLAWLESS LITTLE NOSE!" Caterina screamed, and she could instantly feel the eyes of everyone around her.

She looked to Rosanna, who tried so hard to keep from laughing. Caterina would have laughed too.

If it was Rosanna.

"WHAT?" Valarie screamed, taking out her cover up with the compact mirror.

Caterina threw her hand up to cover her own face.

Gosh, I hope that wasn't recorded.

"NEXT!" Caterina heard a Peacekeeper yell.

_This was it._

_What are they going to do?_

_Will it hurt?_

A peacekeeper grabbed Caterina's wrist and held it up. He pushed the long sleeve of the hoodie down her arm and forced her pointer finger out. He held metal object up to it and...

SHOCK!

"Ow! I'm bleeding!"

"You'll live. Unless you get reaped. Next!"

Caterina waited for her sister and they walked to the 13 year old section. "What was with that pimple comment?" Rosanna asked Caterina as they walked.

"Oh, I don't know. I just hate how cocky and perfect she is and maybe jealousy got the best of me or something."

Caterina was greeted with a hug by her best friend, Caylee, but she didn't get into it. She smiled at her best friend after the hug, held her hand, and faced forward.

"Well don't worry, she eats like a pig and by the time she's 35 she -"

"WELCOME EVERYBODY TO THE REAPING OF THE VERY FIRST HUNGER GAMES." A male with green hair spiked up in a large triangle walked to center stage. "My name is Zegro Zalid and I will be your escort!"

I hated him instantly. What was with my hate today? It didn't matter. I hated him. He made this... event seem exciting and happy. Like he was excited about 23 peoples deaths!

After a long, drawn out introduction including a video and, like, 1000 speeches, he made his way to a glass bowl with plenty of papers inside. "Ladies first!" He called as he reached his hand into the bowl, mixed the paper for a few seconds, and then picked the perfect piece of paper.

He cleared his throat. "ROSANNA ACQUA!" He called. Caterina instantly turned to her sister. She looked straight forward and seemed paralyzed. Caterina could feel the eyes on her sister.

She could also feel thousands of tears leaping up into her eyes. She turned around. "STOP STARING!" She screamed, breaking her 'brave' face and just sobbing uncontrollably. "YOU CAN SEE HER ON TV LATER THIS EVENING! LEAVE HER ALONE!" She wiped some tears on her sleeve. To think, she complained about a little shock and a drip of blood. She let out a loud wail and turned to rest her hand comfortingly on her sisters shoulder, telling her it would all be alright.

Caterina wasn't even fully turned around before she could hear that freak Zegro call her sisters name again. He obviously heard Caterina. He obviously knew where Rosanna was. Caterina wanted to punch him, but she knew it would end in death.

Really, Caterina is not usually this violent. Even at the reapings, the games just change people.

Caterina went to turn herself around again to tell Rosanna that she will make sure she is safe, that she won't have to participate. That Caterina wouldn't allow the Capitol to hurt her, no matter what, but they heard a laugh and Caterina knew instantly it was Valarie. She turned to see her smiling with her PERFECTLY white and straight teeth and so she jumped at her. Valerie fell back first into the streets, and Caterina was sitting on top of her.

"Caterina, what are you doing? Get off of her!" Caylee ordered, watching in disbelief.

"APOLOGIZE!" Caterina ordered Valerie, crying uncontrollably.

"NO! GET OFF OF ME!" Valerie ordered, twisting under the athletic girls body. By this time, they could feel the crowd gathering. Caterina didn't care.

"Caterina, get off!" Caylee ordered again, trying to pull her best friend off. Caterina just pushed her away.

"APOLOGIZE TO MY SISTER!" Caterina ordered again, crying harder as she started punching Valerie.

_Left cheek, right cheek. Left cheek, right cheek_.

"NO! GET OFF OF ME! HELP!"

Caylee and most of the other 13 year old girls in their section were desperately trying to remove Caterina from Valerie. Some just watched. They didn't like Valerie. Caterina blocked them out.

"HOW COULD YOU BE SO CRUEL AS TO LAUGH AT MY SISTER BECAUSE SHE WAS CHOSEN TO FIGHT TO THE DEATH? DO YOU LIKE TO LAUGH AT DEATH?" Caterina asked, punching Valerie. She didn't even have the decency to answer. "ANSWER ME!" Caterina sobbed, grabbing Valerie by her dress to pull her up and then bang her body down to the ground, "ANSWER ME! DO YOU LIKE TO LAUGH AT DEATH?" Still no answer. "LET'S SEE HOW YOU LIKE IT!"

Caterina took the skin directly under her eyes in my hands and pulled them down as far as they could go with my nails, leaving red marks all down her face.

_What's come over me? Why am I a monster? I am the nicest girl in school! What's come over me? The Captiol. That's whats gotten to me. The fact that my sister will be cut to death or burned in a fire. That's what's gotten into me. Valerie deserved a punch or two, sure, but not this._

"CATERINA, STOP!" Rosanna screamed. Caterina looked down at the badly injured Valerie and wanted to cry because of her actions.

She felt herself being pulled from the scene while 2 or 3 peacekeepers grabbed Valerie and pulled her away to a helicopter.

_A helicopter? Am i THAT much of a monster?_

Caterina looked back at her sister, who was already being taken onstage. She felt herself being pulled away from the towns square, so she started kicking and screaming.

_Am I going to turn into an Avox? Am I going to die?_

All eyes were on her. She started kicking and letting out bloodcurdling screams. "NO! NO! CAN'T YOU HANDLE THIS? THIS IS WHAT YOU WILL SEE IN THE ARENA! DO YOU THINK THE CAPITOL WILL ALLOW THE DEATHS OF YOUR CHILDREN TO BE QUICK AND PAINLESS? THIS IS EXACTLY WHAT YOU WILL SEE AT THE ARENA! THEY'RE BRUTES!"

She stopped screaming. She was right. This was exactly what they would see. And she just participated in the Hunger Games early. She just defeated another tribute, in a sense. She saw her dads sad, nervous eyes. He knew that both of his daughters, all he had, were going to die. His entire family, wife and kids, dead.

_I can defeat other tributes.I am strong enough. This is what I have been training for._

"I VOLUNTEER! I AM CATERINA ACQUA AND I VOLUNTEER."

She struggled out of the peacekeepers grips and ran onstage, hugging her sister tightly.

"You don't have to do this!" Rosanna said.

"I know. Go, run. Run away from Panem. Make a boat and leave with Dad and never look back. Go run to Mawrin to Grandmas place and if I am the victor, I will come find you!" Caterina whispered.

"But - "

"Go and never come back!" She whispered again and nudged her offstage.

Immediately Caterina thought she had done the right thing.

_They probably would have killed me anyway, or worse, turned me into an Avox. At least now I have a fighting chance and Dad and Rosanna can escape. If I hadn't volunteered, not only would I have died either physically or mentally, but so would Rosanna. Maybe the fight was a good thing. Maybe it will get me some more sponsors because they know I am so tough, so they will bet on me. Or maybe they all hate me now. In any case, I would have died anyway._

_**-Pagarus Acqua-**_

"Well... After that small turn of events... Let's go on to the men, shall we?" Pagarus wanted to scream no, but just held back. There were enough outbursts that day already. He admired that Caterina girl. Sure, she could of held the Valerie situation better but all of District 4 already knew Valerie had it coming to her. Pagarus could see the kindness of Caterina, how much she cared for her sister. He saw her in school sometimes and he knew she was such a nice person.  
"Gentlemen, are you excited?" Zegro asked, laughing nervously into the microphone. He scratched the back of his neck when he didn't get a response. "Alrighty then." he went to the opposite glass bowl and picked the first slip he could see, it was right at the top of the pile. He quickly opened it and looked out to the audience.

"Shay Carl!" He looked out to the audience and his heart almost broke as he saw who the audience eyes were pointed out. Could this day possibly get any worse? "It's okay, Shay, you can come up. You are safe right now."

Pagarus looked over to see an innocent, nerdy 12 year old boy nervously and slowly walk up to the stage. He had thin legs, shorts, high socks, and light up sneakers. He was wearing a superhero T-Shirt and he looked like he was on the verge of tears. Pagarus noticed he wasn't very athletic. He wasn't fat, but way too thin. It didn't look like it was possible for him to ever become overweight. He looked at his mom, who had red hair was crying hysterically, but she also looked like she was about to kill someone. The dad was just crying.

"Come on up, don't worry. I won't hurt you.

_Yeah, but the capitol will!_ Pagarus thought, shifting uncomfortably in his position. He looked at his friends with a sad expression, who looked at him in the same way. Shay Carl made his way up to the stage and nervously shook there.

"So, Shay Carl. What do you like to do?" Zegro asked, trying to lighten the looked at him and nervously opened his mouth. "I like to play with the hologram video camera and play hide and seek with my best friend Katilette!" He pointed to a beautiful little girl, who was sobbing. She has very long, brown straight hair and beautiful big eyes. "Sometimes I skateboard with my brother Casey and I like to build tree houses with my sister, Carlie." He pointed to his family. District 4 noticed his mom was holding a tiny baby. "Oh, and that's my brother Logan. He doesn't do much. He just poops." Shay explained. "And thats my mommy and my daddy,"

District 4 let out a collective 'aww!' and Zegro was in tears. "Do we have any volunteers for this handsome little man?" Zegro asked hopefully.

Nobody said a word.

"Do we have any volunteers at all?" Zegro asked again, hopeful.

Nobody said a word.

"Well then," Zegro sniffled, gathering up his composure. "Shay, do you have anything else to say?"

Shay took the microphone. "I love you, Katilette," He said. District 4 looked at the little girl, who looked surprised.

"I LOVE YOU TOO, SHAY! AND WHEN YOU GET BACK AND WE ARE OLDER WE ARE GOING TO GET MARRIED. AND BE FAMOUS HOLOGRAM VIDEO MAKERS ON THE WEBSITE TUBEYOU! AND WE WILL HAVE 4 KIDS. 2 BOYS AND 2 GIRLS. AND WE WILL GIVE THEM FAKE NAMES SO NOBODY WILL KNOW THEIR REAL NAMES. THEY WILL BE NAMED SONTARD, PRINCESSTARD, BABYTARD, AND ROCKTARD!" Katilette had obviously been thinking about this for awhile and all of District 4 was in tears. If you weren't crying, you had no heart.

Shay was crying very hard.

"Well then," Zegro sobbed. "No volunteers?" He asked again, figuring he could give it one more shot.

Nothing.

"Well, let's make our way to the Justice Building, shall we?"

Zegro walked to the Justice Building and opened the door for the teenagers, who walked up to it.

"STOP!" Pagarus screamed.

"Pagarus, what are you doing?" He heard one of his guy friends ask.

"I VOLUNTEER!" He shouted, running up. He couldn't see that cute little 12 year old die.

"PAGARUS, NO!" He heard Zabrina scream from the crowd. He looked back, but didn't see her, so he ran to Zegro. "I volunteer."

"Really?" Pagarus nodded. "WONDERFUL!" he looked at Pagarus. "I mean... I didn't mean wonderful, but..."

"I know what you mean." Pagarus interrupted. He walked into the Justice building without another word, silently crying.

**_-Caterina Acqua-_**

As soon as Caterina stepped foot into the building, she was hauled off by 2 Peacekeepers clutching her fists. She was thrown into a train. "What's going on?" She demanded, shaking out her wrists.

"You have lost the privilege to say goodbyes to your family and friends because of your attack on an innocent girl and your speaking out against the Capitol!" The Peacekeeper recited.

"Oh, but it's PERFECTLY okay to attack innocent people in the arena!" Caterina argued. The peacekeeper laughed and slammed the door. She sat there in silence, pulling her knees up to her face and crying into them.

_I can't even say goodbye to Caylee or Rosanna or Dad! I hardly even gave Caylee the time of day. I won't be able to apoligize for that!_

She looked at her wrist. She saw the rope friendship bracelet Rosanna had given to her when they were 5.

_At least I have the perfect token._

**_-Pagarus Acqua-_**

Pagarus sat there and immediately all of his friends, including Zabrina, came in. Most of them were crying.  
"Dude, you are so going to win!"  
"I hope so, man!"

Hug.

"You're not going to die, because people like you don't deserve to die!"  
"Thanks, Jazmine!"

Hug.

"You're going to be rich and famous, bro, don't worry!"  
"Thanks, Jerr!"

Hug.

"You're amazing for volunteering for that little boy!"  
"Thanks, Chandra. I felt that it was the right thing to do."

Hug.

"How dare you?" Zabrina came right up to him and slapped him across the face. He looked at her in shock, grabbing his cheek. She pulled him in for a hug and started crying in his shoulder. "How dare you leave me?" She asked, holding him tight.

She wanted to tell him she loved him, but couldn't. After all, he wasn't a _serious_ love option.

"TIME UP!" A peacekeeper yelled, and they left without protest.

Then, came his father. "Hey, Pagarus. Good luck out there." He smiled, trying to keep a brave face. He didn't want to cry. He wanted to be brave for his son. This way, his sons mind wouldn't be preoccupied with his fathers state of being. He could just focus on winning.

"Thanks, Dad! Please fundraise for supporters and do all that you can. Everybody in District 4 loves me, anyway and -"

"Son, already got it covered." He smiled. He put his hand on his sons shoulder and tried to hold back the tears in his eyes.

His dad kneeled on the ground and pulled out a bunch of objects. He pulled out a braided bracelet, a green scarf pin, a real starfish on a bracelet, a necklace with a dove on it, and a gold metal. "These all belonged to your mother. They're what we could save after the fire. You can pick your token."

Pagarus looked at his father and then silently to the objects. He looked long and hard before quietly saying "The starfish. Mom always loved starfish, and it reminds me of home. It's fierce." He picked up the starfish and smiled.

"TIME!" A peacekeeper yelled in a heavy German accent which made the dad cringe. "I love you, son"

"I love you too, dad."


End file.
